Chapter 1042: Chapter 1042: Aftermath of Hong Zhu

Feng Jun and the Ning Family went back and forth in negotiations, and eventually it was settled that Mountain Master Feng would take out another twelve thousand Spirit Stones, plus the debt, which makes a total of twenty-four thousand Spirit Stones, to buy the courtyard.

As for how Feng Jun would request the help of Master Busheng, the Ning Family didn’t inquire further–just do as you think best, Mountain Master Feng. If it works out, that’s good, if not, it doesn’t matter.

Truth be told, Feng Jun finds this kind of unconditional trust in him to be the most troublesome.

If the other party doesn’t trust him much, or if their attitude in communication isn’t good, he wouldn’t mind having a tough confrontation. But when they keep saying “yes, yes, yes” and “fine, fine, fine,” he really can’t betray that trust.

It seems… I have to make another trip to the Cultivation World? Feng Jun calculated reluctantly.

Asking a Golden Core Master to take action is never easy to begin with. If he just stays on Mount Zhige and sends a message, it may not necessarily be considered “having an improper attitude,” but the effect definitely won’t be good.

Just when he felt at a loss, Chen Junsheng came to report that Luo Shuchen from Tianxin Platform had come again.

Visitor Luo came this time to deliver the repaired magic artifacts to Feng Jun–three had been fixed, and he also brought an extra Ascension Mirror.

The favor from Tianxin Platform this time was indeed not small; Feng Jun genuinely felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart, so he asked what exactly do you want me to treat. If you don’t say it clearly, I have to charge you for the repair costs.

At that moment, he genuinely understood the saying–“Free is the most expensive.”

Luo Shuchen was not secretive at all; he replied directly saying it’s inconvenient to speak now, we need to wait a while until we see results, “If you really feel bad about it, that night vision telescope of yours, just give me a hundred of them.”

Ever since the night chase of the Gu Cultivators, Visitor Luo has been unable to forget the infrared telescope.

Feng Jun thought to himself for a moment, “I’ll give you twenty to start with, the key issue is that I don’t have many in stock.”

“That works,” Luo Shuchen laughed heartily, this man really loves to laugh. Despite his small stature, he carried a generous aura, “No hurry, take your time to arrange the goods, whenever you have them, that’s when you give them to me.”

Feng Jun mused for a moment and asked, “When will you return to the Cultivation World?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Luo Shuchen answered casually, “I also wanted to ask you, how long do you plan to stay on Mount Zhige. If it’s more than ten years, I’m also considering surrounding a yard and building several houses.”

“I’m planning to make a trip to the Cultivation World soon,” Feng Jun tested the waters, “I wonder if Master Busheng is at Tianxin Platform?”

“Ah, that’s hard to say,” Luo Shuchen shook his head, “You know, he’s on patrol duty, his whereabouts are unpredictable.”

Then he asked curiously, “What do you need Master Busheng for?”

Feng Jun relayed the Ning Family’s request and then asked aloud, “What do you think I should prepare to request Master Busheng’s help?”

“What preparation do you need for Master Busheng to take action?” Luo Shuchen shook his head with a smile, “If he’s willing to help, you don’t need to worry about it, he will do it; if he’s unwilling, no matter what you offer, it’s useless.”

The people of Tianxin Platform always handle things so straightforwardly. However, after pausing for a moment, he added, “Of course, if you are willing to become a Guest Elder at Tianxin Platform, I could promise on behalf of Master Busheng.”

“Ah,” Feng Jun let out a sigh, speaking with resignation, “It’s really not convenient for me right now… I’d better meet him in person then, see what the Master thinks.”

“No need,” Luo Shuchen started laughing, still just as hearty, “The next person you need to treat also relies on Master Busheng, and he indeed detests Gu Cultivators quite a lot. I’ll pass the message for you… there shouldn’t be a problem.”

So his efforts to befriend Feng Jun were actually under Master Busheng’s orders, but it makes sense… he is, after all, a disciple of Ji Buseng.

Knowing this, Feng Jun completely set his mind at ease. Anyway, he was going to help Master Busheng treat a patient. A little favor owed is a favor owed, a lot of favors owed aren’t too different, when you’re deeply in debt, you don’t worry about lice bites.

If the creditor were Huang Fu Flawless, he’d consider whether the other party had any ulterior motives, but towards Tianxin Platform, he really doesn’t need to worry; these people might have other faults, but they rarely scheme against others.

Feng Jun immediately informed the Ning Family, saying that I have already asked someone from Tianxin Platform to convey the message to Master Busheng–you should also quickly inform your relatives in the Cultivation World to take the initiative to contact Master Busheng, that would show more sincerity.

The Ning Family members were stunned. A Qi Refinement cultivator–even just in the first level of Qi Refinement–is asking a Golden Core Master for a favor, and just passing a message is enough? Isn’t Mountain Master Feng taking this a bit too lightly?

They found it hard to believe, but Feng Jun didn’t seem like someone who would bluff. Should they trust him?

After discussing for a while, they still notified their clan members, asking them to decide based on the situation.

After all, making a prior visit to Master Busheng is a matter of manners, nobody would find fault with extra courtesy, right?

But when the Ning Family went to Tianxin Platform, they did not meet Master Busheng; a disciple conveyed Master Busheng’s message on his behalf: I’m not familiar with you!

Indeed, this is the style of a Golden Core Master. It’s difficult for people who are not familiar to even meet him–not because the Master is putting on airs, but to prevent certain opportunists; a Golden Core Master has many matters every day, where would there be time to chat idly with them?

In the Cultivation World, strength is respected, and nobody values those who try to ingratiate themselves. Spending time on cultivation is the proper way.

But immediately following, something that shocked the Ning Family occurred, the disciple delivering the message directly threw out a corpse, “If you’re here for this Gu Cultivator, take the corpse away… It saves us the trouble of sending it to your family.”

Upon examination by the Ning Family, if this was not the corpse of the Venerable Hong Zhu, then who else could it be?

They were both shocked and delighted, “Master Buseng… He took action so directly?”

The disciple answered with pride, “Master Buseng was outside at the time. He made a divination and found that this person was no more than ten thousand miles away… It’s just his bad luck.”

No more than ten thousand miles away… Just bad luck? Two of the Ning Family’s Elevated Cultivators exchanged glances, deeply bowed three times in the direction of the Tianxin Platform, and after repeatedly thanking the Qi-Refining Disciple, they stuffed him with one hundred Spirit Stones before departing.

With the corpse of Venerable Hong Zhu in hand, the Ning Family felt satisfied. However, they didn’t miss the opportunity to spread the word, immediately letting it be known that Venerable Hong Zhu chose a disciple of the Ning Family to nurture Gu Insects, and thus he was killed, they hoped that Gu Cultivators took heed!

As for offending Gu Cultivators by doing so? They really didn’t care about that. Living in society, one cannot avoid taking sides, the Earth Realm is this way, and it is the same with the Mobile Phone plane. Those who try to please both sides are likely to end up pleasing neither.

If the insignificant Chu Family dared issue bounties against Gu Cultivators, why wouldn’t the Ning Family?

This announcement by the Ning Family didn’t cause much of a stir at first, but after the declaration, it did cause some small ripples among Gu Cultivators. It appears that on the very day of Hong Zhu’s death, several Gu Cultivators reported restlessness within their Gu Insects.

Before this, no one had noticed anything amiss. For Gu Cultivators, restlessness of their Gu Insects is one of the risks of cultivation – it is not particularly rare – after all, one cannot expect the intelligence of Gu Insects to be on par with that of humans.

But it was later discovered that Hong Zhu had created quite a number of branding Gu Insects, and with his death, those Gu Insects were greatly affected.

According to incomplete statistics, there were no less than thirty Gu Insects nurtured by people for Hong Zhu, and this does not include Gu Cultivators who were protected by their families, like Chu Zhongtian and Ning Jianlin.

This behavior was also quite unpopular among Gu Cultivators, as no one wished to nurture Gu Insects for someone else.

And yet, some Gu Cultivators were curious about how Hong Zhu managed to brand so many Gu Insects – this must be some sort of secret technique, right?

On the fourth day after the announcement, a Gu Cultivator with an unfathomable presence arrived at the gates of the Ning Family, wishing to examine the corpse of Hong Zhu.

The other party did not show himself, and the Ning Family was not afraid – they had already made a public statement, how could they show weakness now?

So, they placed the corpse of Hong Zhu at the entrance.

A powerful Divine Sense flashed past — surely of a High-Rank Elevated Cultivator — and then a voice followed, “How many Gu did Hong Zhu have?”

“We counted twelve types,” responded a mid-level Ning Family Elevated Cultivator, “the one that harmed our disciple was the Giant Millipede Gu!”

“Just an auxiliary Gu,” the voice grew in intensity, the air itself becoming heavy, “how did you kill him?”

“Out of the kindness of Master Buseng of the Tianxin Platform, it was by chance he made his move,” the Ning Family replied without hesitation, “otherwise, even if our Ning Family wanted to overwhelm him with numbers, we would likely suffer losses.”

They were not afraid to acknowledge that the Ning Family could choose to outnumber and overpower the enemy – because we believe we were in the right.

The mention of Master Buseng was not intended to deflect blame onto Tianxin Platform, but rather… Master Buseng performed a good deed, and we have to appreciate it, we have to help spread the word!

The imposing manner of the Gu Cultivator diminished slightly, then he asked another question, “Did you obtain any secret manuals from him?”

The Ning Family understood immediately, the visitor hadn’t come to seek justice, but to acquire Venerable Hong Zhu’s secret techniques. Hearing that Master Buseng was involved, he no longer made veiled threats with his power and directly addressed the matter at hand.

“No, we didn’t obtain anything,” the Ning Family answered tersely, “With Master Buseng taking action, how could we presume to share in the spoils of war?”

The Gu Cultivator turned around and left with his imposing presence, leaving only these words behind, “If Hong Zhu’s secret techniques are replicated by the Ning Family, I will hold you accountable for the crime of disrespect!”

One of the Ning Family’s Elevated Cultivators exclaimed in horror, “Who came… A Golden Core Gu Cultivator?”

The next moment, the sole high-level Elevated Cultivator within the Ning Family spoke out, his voice resonating far and wide, “Not a Golden Core… just a Half-step Golden Core.”

Half-step Golden Core… that is a cultivator who is only a sliver away from nurturing a Golden Core.

The intent of the visitor was then clear, undaunted and seeking opportunities to achieve Golden Core, he came to gain Hong Zhu’s secret techniques.

But upon hearing about the involvement of Master Buseng of Tianxin Platform, and since there were no issues with the Ning Family’s responses, he could only leave in disappointment, his parting threat just a formality.

One should understand, this was the intervention of a Golden Core Master. If he disrespected himself further by harassing the Ning Family, would he not invite the karma of a Golden Core upon himself – if you go against the Ning Family, do you not consider my, Master Buseng’s position?

At this moment, the people of the Ning Family had only one thought in mind: It’s a good thing that the Ning Family didn’t gang up to kill Hong Zhu, otherwise this would not have been easy to handle.

Truly, we must thank Mountain Master Feng of Mount Zhige.